


Fake It Till You Make It

by stilljunhui (acyria)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Romance, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 07:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18244787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acyria/pseuds/stilljunhui
Summary: In a thoughtless attempt to get his mother off his back, Hong Jisoo's first course of action was to lie to her. That involved bringing in his best friend, Yoon Jeonghan, who was more than willing to help. They've gone through everything together; now all they had to do was pretend they were in a healthy, loving relationship, and keep up the act long enough for his mother to feel contented. That wasn't so hard. After which, things will go back to normal, right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What am I doing writing another chaptered story while I still have a lot unfinished? Good question!  
> The answer to which is that none of my other stories are cooperating with me at the moment, but I still desperately wanted to just write something.  
> Jihan will always be the home I return to at the end of a weary day (Home.mp3 plays in the background) so here I am, giving in to my desperate want to write another Jihan fic with the idea of making it chaptered. I'm aiming to finish this one as soon as possible, which is what I always say, but I'm sticking with it this time.  
> The idea for this fic was born after I realized I haven't written anything that involved the fake relationship trope yet. I've also always been a sucker with best-friends-turned-lovers type of stories, and doing that for Jihan just felt like the way to go. Roughly inspired by pretty much every other fake relationship fanfic out there.
> 
> You can find cover art for this story where it's also crossposted on AFF: [here.](https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1396224/)

“So, how was the date?”

Hong Jisoo practically glared at his best friend as he toed his shoes off at the front door, which only managed to elicit a playful laugh from the blonde boy. Jeonghan was sitting in the living room couch watching some cooking show on the television; why he did so when he was barely even in the kitchen, Jisoo didn’t know, but he couldn’t find it in him to complain at the moment as the brunette wearily dragged himself over to the couch as well. He fell on it dramatically with a soft thud.

“Good, I presume?” Jeonghan asked again, snickering further as he pulled his leg away from the other before Jisoo could hit him. “No need to be violent, Shua.”

“I have never met anyone so narcissistic,” the brunette began to complain, remembering how his blind date went. Granted, his date—whose name he can’t even remember anymore—was good looking to a fault, all chiseled features and impeccable fashion, but it was close to impossible to keep a good conversation. Every few minutes, his date would shift the topic to relate to himself instead, never really giving Jisoo the chance to talk, unless it was to comment mindlessly about the topic at hand. 

Jeonghan tilted his head in question, “really? He’s more narcissistic than you?”

“I’m not narcissistic.”

“You won Prom King back in high school _once_ and we never heard the end of it from you.”

“That doesn’t count,” Jisoo said dismissively, snatching the remote from the table counter and changing the channel, despite his friend’s complaints. He’s had a long day, and frankly, he just wanted to pop open a bottle of beer and call it a night. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as his phone rang a few moments later. He groaned when he read the caller ID. Sometimes he really regretted telling his mom everything that went on in his life.

Next to him, Jeonghan peeked at his phone and laughed.

“Tell her I said hi after you’re done complaining.”

Jisoo got up from the couch and rolled his eyes at the other boy, moving into the adjoined kitchen to take the call. 

“Hey, Mom.”

“Jisoo,” his mom greeted, voice filled with warmth even through the phone. “Was today when you went out with that guy your friend set you up with?”

“Yeah,” Jisoo replied, resisting the urge to cut the topic off there, but he found his complaints escaping him despite himself. “It didn’t go very well. He was a lover of the arts, but the problem is, he found himself to be the only art he wanted to look at. It was like going on a date with an audiobook of the guy’s autobiography. I felt like a flimsy magazine next to him.” 

“Always so dramatic, Jisoo,” his mom chided him. “I’m sure he wasn’t that bad.”

“You’re right. He’s probably a lot worse than I make him sound.”

She sighed over the phone, but her subtle amusement was not lost on her son, who couldn’t help but smile as they continued their conversation. She asked him the basics—how his work hunt was going, whether he was going on another date soon, and whether she should come over and help him. All of which received answers of varying negativity. After a while, she became a lot more adamant about staying over. Mainly to help Jisoo with his dating problem.

“It’s not a problem,” Jisoo insisted, flustered at his mother’s word choice. “I’m perfectly fine, Mom. Really, I am.”

“You’re getting older. I’m also getting older,” she said, tone wistful. “I just want to see my son happy with someone.”  


“Mom, you’re young and beautiful.”

“Still,” she said without a pause. “I have this one friend there who has a lovely daughter—“  
  
“Mom, you know I don’t swing that way.”

“My friend also has a son.”

Jisoo groaned, “Mom, please, I’m fine. I _am_ happy, believe it or not.”

It was at that moment when Jeonghan decided to pop into the kitchen, aiming to grab a quick drink. He stifled a laugh at the exasperated look Jisoo had on his face as he held the phone to his ear, resting on the kitchen counter like he wanted to just climb up and lie on top of it. They’ve lived with each other since their university days and the arrangement worked well with them even after graduating. That also meant they knew each other well enough that Jeonghan could tell Jisoo wanted a way out of the phone call, and fast.

“Have you told her I said hi yet?” The blonde asked cheerfully, before taking the phone from Jisoo’s hand himself and putting it on speaker phone. “Hi, Auntie!”

“Jeonghan? Is that you?” She asked, her tone clearly pleased. “How are you?”

“All good, Auntie. Jisoo’s been taking great care of me.”

“Really? How so?” 

As he considered his next move, Jisoo blamed the terrible date he was on for the way his thought process went at that moment. There was also the overall fatigue in his bones and the way his mom’s incessant nagging was ringing in his head. One moment he was blanking out after listening to his best friend talk to his mother over the phone, and the next, he was struck with what he considered a brilliant idea. Before Jeonghan could reply, he snatched the phone back.

“Mom, I’m dating Jeonghan.”

There was a tangible silence both from the phone and from the other boy in the room, both of which Jisoo promptly ignored. 

“That’s why I haven’t really been trying during my blind dates,” he continued to lie, feeling his friend’s own confusion grow along with it. “That was the last time I’m going on one, only since Seokmin had insisted. I’ve decided to go public with my feelings for Jeonghan. You’re the first one who knows, Mom. I hope it’s okay.”

The silence continued long enough for Jisoo to snap out of things, realizing with a start what he just told his mother _and_ his best friend, who was staring at him from across the kitchen counter with an unreadable expression. He was just about to take it all back, deciding it was probably a bad idea to lie to his mother after all since she was extremely perceptive, he thought to himself, when Jeonghan ended up grabbing the phone from him again.

“That’s what I mean, Auntie,” he said with a chuckle, winking at Jisoo as he did so. “We’ve been meaning to tell you for a while now, but you know how Shua worries.”  


There was an audible _tsk_ from the other end, before Jisoo’s mother spoke again.

“He made me go through all this worrying of my own for nothing,” she said. Something in her tone sounded relieved as she continued, while Jisoo was still processing how his mother seemed to take everything so well. She didn’t even question it in the slightest. “Don’t think this doesn’t mean I won’t come over. I haven’t seen both of you boys in so long. Would it be alright if I stay over there during my stay in Seoul?”

“Of course,” Jeonghan answered for the both of them. “We can’t wait to see you this weekend!”

“Thank you. See you then. Tell Jisoo I love him.”

“Love you,” the brunette said into the phone as it was thrust into his face. “See you, Mom.”

When the line went dead, Jisoo turned to his best friend, who was still sporting a playful grin on his face. He knew Yoon Jeonghan well enough to know that it was never a good thing when he had such a look. Most of the time, it involved reckless plans that only brought both of them trouble. However, Jisoo couldn’t really consider himself blameless in the situation. It was his lie, after all. He should have been glad his friend went along with things so easily.

“We’re dating, huh?” Jeonghan said, grin widening. “Were all those mornings of making me breakfast your way of winning my heart, Hong Jisoo? You could have done better.”  


“Shut up,” Jisoo said without much bite, rolling his eyes. “Between the two of us, we both know _you’re_ the one who wants to win _my_ heart.”

“I think I’ve already won it,” the blonde replied, sticking his tongue out, before erupting into a fit of laughter. Jeonghan laughed so hard that he had to hold onto his stomach, which eventually made the brunette break into a grin. The situation really was quite funny. Out of all his other friends, Jisoo didn’t think he’d end up in a pretend relationship with Jeonghan, but it also made sense that it was with the blonde. 

They already lived together, so it wasn’t that hard to believe. Not to mention, despite their close group of friends, it’s always been the two of them who banded together. It felt a lot like they were partners for every and any situation thrown their way; Jisoo has helped Jeonghan out of a few messy situations himself, so he should have expected his best friend to ride with his lie just as quickly as it left his mouth. They worked well together, he mused. 

“We’re gonna have to prep this place, then,” Jeonghan said after he finished laughing, wiping at the tears that formed on the corner of his eyes. “It reeks of how terribly single we both actually are, you know.”

“Those fake plants of yours don’t help?”

The blonde gave an exaggerated gasp, “don’t you _dare_ attack my succulents again, Hong Jisoo.”

“ _Fake_ succulents,” Jisoo replied, staring at the one they on the kitchen counter in particular.

He remembered the day they went out to buy them in the first place, a whole three years ago, when they first decided to buy the apartment together. Jeonghan was adamant about how they needed to pick out decorations that gave the place more life, while the brunette just wanted some minimalist pieces to match his own sense of style. In the end, the blonde won only because they played rock paper scissors to decide. 

It was easy living with Yoon Jeonghan, Jisoo mused to himself.

Surely pretending to date the other boy wouldn’t be so hard, either.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second update of the day since I'm on a roll with this and just wanted to add more. At this rate, I might end up updating this every day. Or maybe once a week, but with two chapters each time, so there's always both POVs being shown. I'll decide on it eventually.

It was going to be a piece of cake. Yoon Jeonghan was absolutely sure of that. Plus, maybe above all else, it was going to be _fun_. He didn’t take a theatre major for nothing. He felt like his whole friendship with Jisoo was leading to the moment where Jisoo would have to lie to his mother about his relationship status. A bit of a stretch, but Jeonghan didn’t find a problem with it, even if it did involve deception. At the end of the day, everybody would be happy, anyway.

In the next few days that followed before Evelyn Hong’s arrival, the two were making quick work of fixing up their dreary apartment.

“You have empty bowls all over your room,” Jisoo said with distaste as he went inside his friend’s room with intentions to discuss their plans again, but he stopped by the doorway with a frown as he examined the state of the room. Clothes were strewn on the floors, empty cups and bowls littered the tables, with the blonde sitting in the middle of his bed comfortably. He gingerly stepped over a shirt and sat on the foot of the bed, “how do you even move in this room?”

“ _Our_ room,” Jeonghan corrected happily. It only made sense, he had argued when he first pitched the idea to the brunette, that they shared a room now. They were a couple, after all, in their wild youth that was yet to be tamed. Jisoo’s face promptly flushed at the other boy’s implications, which only made Jeonghan further believe it was a good idea. Anything to get a reaction like that again, he had said cheekily. 

It was only secondary that Jisoo’s mom would be using a room of her own, too.

“My mother’s not here yet,” the brunette said flatly. “While it’s still _your_ room, I expect you to clean it up, Yoon Jeonghan. I’m not staying here with you until you do.”

The blonde shook his head, “so many complaints already, babe. How did we last this long?”

“You won’t be able to survive without me, darling.”

“I think it’s the other way around,” Jeonghan said with an easy grin. “Who’s helping whom again in this situation?”

He always enjoyed bickering with Jisoo. When they had first met, way back in high school when the other boy had first moved to South Korea, he didn’t think they were going to be friends at all. Young Hong Jisoo was full of shy smiles and spoke very little. It wasn’t until Jeonghan realized that was mainly because Jisoo was still getting used to the language did the two end up inseparable, with the blonde mainly teaching Jisoo. 

Now he was a master at talking back. Sometimes Jeonghan didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not, but ultimately decided it was the best thing to happen. It was always a delight to see mild-mannered Jisoo speak with such sass, surprising people who didn’t know him very well. Everybody always figured it was Jeonghan with the crazy, reckless ideas and that he just managed to drag his kind best friend with him. Little did they know Jisoo contributed to their fun half as much.

Still, if he had to decide on who was ultimately more playful, Jeonghan would vote for himself.

“Your mom arrives when again?” The blonde asked conversationally as he finally decided to clean his room.

Jisoo still sat on his bed, pointing out the stuff he had to throw out here and there, “tomorrow afternoon. She already said she’ll take a cab here. Insisted on it, even, since neither of us drive.”

“What’s our backstory?”

“You’ve been in love with me since high school and I only recently realized?” Jisoo suggested with a cheeky grin, instantly making Jeonghan laugh out loud. Yeah, right, as if that was possible. Everybody knows the blonde wasn’t exactly the shyest person out there. Quite often, what Yoon Jeonghan wanted, Yoon Jeonghan got. If he’s had a crush on his friend all these years, it wouldn’t have taken them this long to get together. He was confident of that.

As he picked up his clothes on the floor, Jeonghan hummed in thought, “I think it works better the other way around, don’t you think?”

“I’m not affected by your charms, Jeonghan.”

“Really?” The blonde asked, dropping his clothes back onto the floor—which Jisoo noticed with a frown—before heading back to his bed. He stopped a few inches away from the other boy, before he leaned in close, their faces only a few inches apart. The brunette’s eyes widened, but he didn’t flinch or back away. Jeonghan had to give it to him for that. He grinned, “your eyes tell me you find me very handsome, dear.”

“Only because your eyes are reflecting my face, sweetheart,” Jisoo said, pushing the blonde away with a laugh. “Quit playing around and clean up.”

Laughing along as he went back to pick his clothes up, Jeonghan continued to think of a good cover story for the both of them. It didn’t have to be so intricately detailed, after all. They could always make stuff up along the way, anyway. That was something the two shared as well—this ability to just go with whatever the other person was making up, as shown in the way Jeonghan seamlessly played along with Jisoo’s lie to begin with.

The whole thing felt like another fun prank they were playing. 

“How about this,” Jeonghan started to say when he found himself back on his bed, room finally spotless enough for his friend to deem it alright. “It just sort of happens. We’ve been living with each other and I blurt out that I love you or something, without thinking of it. What do you think?”

“And I accidentally say it back,” Jisoo added with a nod. “Alright, I think she’ll buy that.”

“Do you really think you can lie to your own mother, though? She’ll see right through the both of us, Shua. Evelyn Hong is one scary woman.”  


The brunette shrugged, “she’s only here for a few days. I think we can manage.”

Evelyn arrived the next day at 3PM sharp. She was pretty much the perfect example of how Asian women didn’t seem to age. With her soft features and gentle, warm demeanour, Jeonghan could always easily see where Jisoo got most of his traits from. That included the way her eyes almost disappeared into half-moon shapes when she saw him, smiling immediately as the blonde headed over to hug her.

“You’ve grown since I last saw you,” she said as she hugged him back. “Still such a handsome young boy.”

“You flatter me, Auntie,” Jeonghan said with a chuckle when they let go.

“Your son would also like to be called handsome,” Jisoo commented from behind him.

The woman rolled her eyes—again, Jeonghan could see the similarities—as she walked over to where Jisoo was to give him a hug as well, which he returned just as tightly.

“You already heard that too much growing up,” she chastised. “It’s gotten to your head, Jisoo.”  


Suddenly remembering that they were supposed to be a couple now, Jeonghan nodded ecstatically, latching himself onto Jisoo’s side immediately after he let go of his mother. The blonde had an arm around his friend’s shoulder, pulling him closer as he laughed. He could tell his actions caused Jisoo to wonder for a split second, shoulders tense, before he must have realized what was going on. He relaxed into the hold immediately.

“I guess I should stop telling him the same,” the blonde said cheekily.

“I’m glad to see my son is with someone so sweet,” Evelyn said approvingly. “Even if I know you’re also prone to using flattery yourself, Jeonghan.”

“You know me too well already!”

The two helped Evelyn with her bags soon after, bringing it into what was supposed to be Jisoo’s ‘ _old’_ room. He brought some of his stuff out and placed it in Jeonghan’s room, while some of Jeonghan’s things could be seen lying about, for extra measure. They decided it made the whole thing look a touch more natural. If Jisoo’s mother noticed anything off about it, or even anything weird about the set-up, she didn’t mention it.

“I’m afraid my age is catching up to me,” she said after she was settled in. “The jet lag from my flight is right behind that, too.”

“Go rest, Mom,” Jisoo said, walking over to give the woman a kiss on the cheek. “You’ll probably sleep the night away. We’ll see you tomorrow at breakfast. We’re also going out with Seungcheol and Junhui for dinner, since we forgot we made plans with them beforehand.”

“No problem,” his mother replied, already stifling a yawn. “Tell those two to come see me as well, alright?”

“Will do, Auntie,” Jeonghan answered for them both. 

With a final good night, the two exited the room and silently made their way into Jeonghan’s room a few paces down the hall. Once in the comfort of his own room, Jeonghan couldn’t help the sigh of relief that he didn’t even notice he was holding in. While there was nothing unnatural about his words and actions, it was slightly tiring to have to be so aware of everything he did. If he felt pressured, how much more Jisoo?

Sure enough, the brunette was already lying face down on the bed.

“I feel so on edge,” he complained, words only partially muffled by the pillow under his face.

Jeonghan laughed and sat on the bed next to him, hands finding their way towards the other boy’s back, fingers pressing in. He was more than used to giving Jisoo massages like that, since the other was perpetually stressed back in their university days. As he continued to knead at the hard knots that formed on Jisoo’s shoulders, feeling the tension ebb away with each movement of his hands, the blonde boy himself felt a little more positively about the situation.

“We can sell this,” he said assuringly. “I got an A in acting class, remember?”

“I didn’t _have_ acting class,” Jisoo whined, lifting his head. “I’m a music major, Jeonghan. I can probably sell my mother a piano faster than I can sell this relationship.”

“You have such little faith in us.”

Honestly, the more he thought about it, the more Jeonghan was beginning to think there was very little to be careful about when it came to their fake relationship. All he had to do was flirt endlessly with Hong Jisoo, which was easy since that’s something he usually does already, anyway, albeit jokingly. He just had to be touchier and sweeter, which he can also manage if he took a page from Wen Junhui’s book.

He was going to be the sweetest boyfriend ever, Jeonghan told himself confidently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea why I thought Jisoo's mom would be named Evelyn, but I saw no other option.


End file.
